The present invention relates to a security system for protecting one or more otherwise unsecured appliances. One specific application of the system is to protect a plurality of personal computers and their associated peripherals. In the past, security systems for personal computers have been comprised primarily of external alarms and locks which can be defeated by many potential thieves. The external nature of the wires of an alarm allow a thief to defeat the security system before the alarm can sound. In security systems involving locks, a physical attack on the lock or any chain or cable can allow a thief to defeat the security system. There has been a long felt need within the field of personal computers and office equipment to secure one or more pieces of equipment in an efficient and fail-safe manner, and provide an alarm indication of tampering or attempted theft.
One solution to the past failure of computer and office equipment security systems ("appliances") involves the use of fiber optic cable that allows a beam of light to be transmitted through its length. A thin fiber cable through which a light shines is attached to one or more appliances; the ends of the fiber optic cable are connected to an alarm system mounted at a remote location. If a potential thief cuts the fiber cable to release the individual appliance from the fiber optic security system, the remote alarm sounds upon sensing the broken light circuit. This system resolves the difficulty in preventing a thief from cutting, splicing, or bypassing normal electrical wires in defeating an alarm system.
One disadvantage of such an optical fiber security system is that the system is still susceptible to physical defeat at the node where the optical fiber cable is attached to the appliance. If a thief removes the attachment device at the node from the appliance without cutting the optical fiber cable, the alarm system is defeated. It is generally known within the prior art of security devices that a system is only as strong as the weakest link within the entire system. In this case, the weakest link is the possibility of physical defeat at the nodes. Therefore, a system is needed to allow the use of a simple optical fiber network to secure a plurality of computers or peripherals without the possibility of attack at the nodes of the system.
Another disadvantage of existing fiber optic security systems is that they generally require that the optical fiber be secured through an attachment device that requires that a cut end of the optical fiber be threaded through the device In situations where long optical fibers are employed, this generally means that in order to conveniently and legitimately move, remove, or add a particular appliance from or to the fiber loop, the fiber itself must be cut so that a long length of fiber need not be threaded through a large number of other attachment devices mounted on other appliances. In fact, manufacturers of such systems (e.g. those produced by Minatronics of Pittsburgh, Pa., USA) generally specify that the fiber must be periodically cut and spliced together. Such splices introduce signal loss thereby reducing the permissible optical fiber length, and also require installation time in addition to raising the material costs of the system. The impetus to eliminate splices requires that a new attachment device be devised to permit the optical fiber to be attached or removed from an appliance without the need for threading through long lengths of fiber.
Another disadvantage of existing security systems is that fiber attachment devices presently used do not allow sufficient flexibility to permit attachment to a large variety of appliances, and do not adequately secure the appliance from being opened. For example, a fiber attachment device that employs a screw to mount it onto an appliance may not be mountable on an appliance that has no screw holes, or that requires a screw of a different size or thread. In such a situation, drilling into the appliance is usually required, an act that usually voids manufacturer's warranties or could cause serious damage to the appliance itself. In another example, an existing form of attachment device may be mountable on an appliance but only in a way that still permits the appliance to be opened. A computer with deeply recessed enclosure fastening screws unusable for mounting the attachment device may be opened by a thief and its computer boards removed, even with an attachment device securely fastened elsewhere to the outside of the case. These circumstances suggest a need for a new form of attachment device that permits enhanced flexibility in its mounting on appliances.